“Hundreds of Millions of Euros” Found During Vatican Financial Overhaul

Last updated on: December 26, 2014 at 6:38 pm by Kathy Schiffer

“Hundreds of Millions of Euros” Found During Vatican Financial Overhaul 2014-12-26T18:38:18-05:00 Kathy Schiffer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Things aren’t looking quite as bad as they’d thought over at the Vatican finance office.

In an exclusive article in the premier issue of the Catholic Herald magazine, Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the newly created Secretariat for the Economy and the most senior English-speaking official in the Vatican, said,

“In fact, we have discovered that the situation is much healthier than it seemed, because some hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet. It is another question, impossible to answer, whether the Vatican should have much larger reserves.”

So the Vatican is not broke, as some had feared. Like many corporate enterprises, the Vatican needs to strengthen its Pension Fund, in anticipation of required payouts in the future. However, there are sufficient funds available to enable operations to continue unimpeded.

The discovery of such a large cache of funds is not evidence of fraud or money laundering. Instead, it’s simply due to Vatican departments holding funds in their own accounts, a custom designed to protect their independence. Cardinal Pell explained that the Vatican’s financial reform process has had to address this ingrained sense of independence among Vatican departments:

“So it was with the Vatican finances. Congregations, Councils and, especially, the Secretariat of State enjoyed and defended a healthy independence. Problems were kept ‘in house’ (as was the custom in most institutions, secular and religious, until recently). Very few were tempted to tell the outside world what was happening, except when they needed extra help.”

For centuries, Vatican finances were unregulated, which allowed unscrupulous persons to take advantage of their naivety and secrecy. The Vatican accounts had been allowed to “lurch along, disregarding modern accounting standards”. Now, Cardinal Pell reports, new structures and organizations are bringing Vatican finances into the 21st century, and making their workings transparent, with full accountability.

In 2015, the Pope is expected to name a lay person to serve as Auditor General for the Vatican. The auditor general will report directly to the Pope, and will have authority to conduct a detailed audit of any Vatican office at any time.

Finally, Cardinal Pell reports that some cardinals and bishops from around the world have inquired whether the new financial procedures and chart of accounts, introduced in November 2014, could be shared with bishops’ conferences for consideration and use. “The responsibilities of the Secretariat for the Economy are limited to the Holy See, Vatican City State and the almost 200 entities directly answerable to the Vatican,” he writes. But eventually, the reforms and procedures instituted in the Vatican may effect financial management in dioceses worldwide.

Read Cardinal Pell’s remarks in their entirety at the Catholic Herald.

Vatican

Cardinal George Pell

Previous Post

December 3, 2014

Lay Leadership? Restructuring of Dicasteries? Big Changes Anticipated for Roman Curia

Next Post

December 3, 2014 BREAKING: Head of the Swiss Guard Removed From Post

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #Synod14 Abortion Abstinence Abuse Addiction Adoption Advent Adventure Advertising Aging Agnosticism All Saints Day All Souls Day Amish Anathema Angels Anglican Animals Annulment Annunciation Apocalypse Apologetics Apostles Apostleship of the Sea Apparitions Archangels Archbishop Cordileone Archbishop Dolan Archbishop Vigneron Archeology Architecture Art Art Buchwald Ash Wednesday Assisted Suicide Astronauts Atheism Athletes Babies Baptism Beatification Beauty Bible Biochemistry Bioethics Birds Bishop Lori Bishops Blasphemy Books Canon Law Canonization Capital Punishment Cardinal Burke Cardinal Dolan Cardinal George Caritas Catechesis Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Catholic Education Catholic Higher Education Catholic Social Teaching Celibacy Cemeteries Character Charity Chastity Cheapskate Christian Unity Christmas Churches Civil Rights Cloning Comedy Communion of Saints Community Kitchens Confession Confirmation Conscience Consequences Consistory Constitution Contraception Conversion Cooking Councils of the Church Creativity Criminal Justice Cristero War Crucifixion Crystal Cathedral Culture Death Death and Dying Death Penalty Department of Health and Human Services Diaconate Dictatorship of Relativism Dignity Disability Discrimination Dissidence Divorce Doctors of the Church Early Church Fathers Easter Economics Ecumenism Education Encyclicals Environmentalism Episcopal Church Eucharist Euthanasia Evangelism Evangelists Evangelization Evolution Excuses Facebook Faith Families Family Fashion Fasting Fatherhood Federal Government Feminism Fiction Film First Amendment First Communion For Greater Glory Forgiveness Free Speech Friends Friendship Gender Discrimination Germany Gnosticism Good Friday Government Grace Greed Gregorian Calendar Happiness Health Heaven Heresy History Holidays Holiness Hollywood Holy Land Holy Saturday Holy Spirit Holy Week Holy Year Home Sweet Home Homosexuality Hope Humanism Humility Humor Imagination Immaculate Conception Immigration Impulsivity In Vitro Fertilization Incarnation Indulgences Infallibility Internet Islam Italy Jerusalem Jesus Judaism Justice Kathleen Sebelius Labor Movement LCWR Lent Life Literature Liturgy Lourdes Love Magi Marketing Marriage Martyrdom Martyrs Mary Mass Media Medical Ethics Mexico Michigan Miracles Missionaries Modernism Modesty Monks Monothelitism Motherhood Movies Mushrooms Music Muslim Mystery Mysticism Mythology Nativity Natural Law Nature New Evangelization New Media New Year New Year's Resolutions Nostalgia Obscenity Occult Old Testament Origen Orthodox Orvieto Pallium Papacy Parenting Patience Patriarch Bartholomew Patriotism Peace Peace and Justice Penitence Pentecost People Persecution Philosophy Poetry Political activism Political Correctness Politics Polls Pop Culture Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI Pope St. Pius X Pope Urban VII Population Prayer Preaching Prejudice Pride Priesthood Pro-Life Protestantism Psychology Purgatory Queenship of Mary Racism Rape Real Presence Reconciliation Reformation Relics Religious Religious Liberty Reliquary Renewal Reproductive Technology Resurrection Rights Romance Rome Royalty Sacraments Sacred Heart Saints Satanism Science Science Fiction Scripture Seal of Confession Secularism Seniors September 11 Seventy Times Seven Sexuality Sharks Sin Smoking Social Communications Social Justice Social Networking Social Sciences Space Exploration Spirituality Sports St. Luke St. Patrick's Day St. Paul St. Peter St. Teresa of Avila Stations of the Cross Steve Jobs Superstition Supreme Court Symbolism Synod Technology Teen Rebellion Television Terrorism Thankfulness Thanksgiving Theology Think This, Not That Tobit Toilets Toys Tradition Traditions Transplants Travel Trinity Twitter U.S. Air Force Uncategorized United Nations USCCB Valentine Vatican Vatican Archives Vatican Blogfest Virtue Vocations Where We Pray White Heart Women World Day of Social Communications World Meeting of Families World News World Youth Day Worship Writing Year of Consecrated Life Year of Faith Year of Mercy Youth

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 1 Peter, what does love do?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Covers over a multitude of sins Never fails Casts out fear Bears all things